The Chair
by Deandra
Summary: Eomer rearranges the furniture. Fluffy little ONESHOT. Part 34 of the Elfwine Chronicles.


**_Part 34 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes._**

_A/N: You know me and 'triggers'. Saw a picture of a father in a chair with a child and this is the result._

_shie1dmaidenofrohan – yes, it was Elfwine Thiri was pregnant with in Homecoming. Your brain really was fried! But the weekend is here and maybe this will soothe a few of those tortured brain cells._

_lady scribe of avandell – glad Homecoming brightened your day. I always like an unexpected pick-me-up when I'm feeling lousy._

**The Chair **

**(Dec, 3020)**

It started when I was carrying our first child and was about five months along.

There was a large, overstuffed chair that had sat in Theoden's study for a very long time, but was rarely used, except perhaps in private. One day, I found my husband and Gamling toting it down the hallway in the direction of our chambers. When I asked what they were doing, Eomer merely grinned and bade me follow them to see.

Dutifully, I trailed behind them and then my husband called for me to open the door to the nursery. I did so, and they maneuvered their way in, where they set the thing down. Surveying the room with an appraising eye, Eomer finally pointed to a spot that got plenty of light but was not directly in the sunlight, and the two men shoved aside the table sitting there and replaced it with the chair.

Eomer turned to me beaming with pride, and moved to pull me close as Gamling slipped from the room and tugged the door shut behind him. "For you to sit in when nursing or cuddling or telling stories," he murmured. "There is plenty of room to snuggle up with a child, even if he is snuggling with his father."

I smiled tenderly at him, touched by his thoughtfulness.

In the months that followed, I periodically tried out the chair and found it was very comfortable. I even got Eomer to test it with me, though I could not sit him on my lap since it was rapidly disappearing under my swollen belly. It was indeed an excellent chair for snuggling, and I think once Eomer discovered that, he may have regretted turning it over to the nursery and not making it a part of _our_ chambers.

When at last April arrived and I was delivered of child, a son we named Elfwine, I found a myriad of reasons to sit there. The brisk early spring winds and chilling rain could not penetrate the warmth of our little cocoon in that chair.

As Elfwine grew, the need for the chair changed. Sometimes, we sat there while I told him stories, though as much as he liked my tales, he was ecstatic whenever his father was available to do the honors. Many times I was too busy to stay and listen in, though I did discover the sort of tales being told when our son awoke us early one morning.

He had been begging for Eomer to tell him a story all the previous day, and now continued his request with fresh fervor. Sleepily, my husband pulled him into bed and asked which story he would like to hear. I do not think he expected to be caught out, for our son promptly requested a story about Eomer rescuing me from fifty orcs! I have not yet let him live that one down, since the tale was almost totally a prevarication, but nothing was quite so sweet as seeing my son wrapped in my husband's arms and the two of them sharing a warm, private moment together.

As our family grew, each child enjoyed the 'seat of honor', as it seemed to unofficially be known. The children were so fond of the chair that they sometimes squabbled about who got to sit in it. But for a long time, we could all squash in together amid much giggling and teasing.

I was sorry when they each got too old for stories and snuggling and, at length, even my youngest no longer sought it out much. Then I realized the days that had passed and how my family had grown.

One day, as I went by the nursery and glanced in, out of force of habit, I noticed the chair was gone. Startled, I dashed into the room, wondering who had dared to move it. Hearing a sound from our bedchamber in the next room, I opened the connecting door and found Eomer shoving it into a similar spot there.

As he heard me enter, he looked up and grinned at my questioning look. Reaching out a hand for me to take, he settled himself in the chair and pulled me into his lap. "The children no longer seek this chair, but I am not yet willing to give it up!" he whispered. As we kissed, I was delighted to discover that my snuggling days were not yet over.

THE END

7-22-05

**_End note: It is not essential that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written, but there is an advantage to doing so. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order (#15 came after #17, I think), but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content. _**


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